Cinematic Traveller

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Each weapon lists the damage it infl icts as a number of d6. Add the Effect of the attack roll to this damage.

Are speaking of using something over and above the standard on p.65 of the Core book?
I would keep it simple, like on a rolls of 6's on the task roll allows to roll another die and add to the roll. If if a 6 is rolled again, keep rolling. Allow only the PCs and Major NPCs to be able to do this. The mooks get squat. This allows players to be more cinematic without change every other rule in the book. Can also be applied to non-combat rolls to distinguish your Skill 4 (best in the world) Scientist/WhatHaveYou from other people running around with the same skill level.

Without the rules modification standard humans can achieve +12 Effect or more, though not often:
Stat 15 (+3DM) (Maximum Human)
Skill 4 (+4DM) (Best in the World)
Equipment (+1DM) (or better depending on type)
Extra Time (+1DM or more) (if applicable)
Roll of 12
12 (roll) - 8 (Standard Task Diffculty) +8 (DMs) = Effect 12 Damage from a dagger becomes 1d6+2 + 12.

Using the Animal creation rules is a falacy. Humans are mediocre at best compared to similar-sized creatures on Earth. Our senses are dull, our weapons are pitiful and we are not as fast as equivalently massed creatures.

 

[dirklancer]

I like the redshirts as ablative armor options...

So for those of you more familiar with how combat works, how effective/essential are reactive dodges and parries for survival? I did have a thought about giving a free defensive action or two (maybe 1 plus Dexterity modifier), if that would help. Ultimately my goal is not to create walking tanks that mow down hoards of minions while bullets ricochet off their bulging pectoral muscles, but just make the heroes a bit more hardy so they can survive the occasional squad of combat drones and won't think twice about doing the stupid things heroes in movies do that should not be survivable and also mildly defy the laws of physics.
I honestly think the rules as is work just fine and I have no big worries about running it, but I just want to give the characters a little more durability and maybe some form of karma points to twist the odds in their favor now and then.
Going back to the discussion about systems like 7th Sea or FFG SW and handling groups of mooks like a single threat, I had a thought on using that for Traveller. As mentioned before, mooks wouldn't use options like dodges and would have pretty basic stats. Each group would have a general pool of "health" that would apply to the unit as a whole and depleting it would kill of one or more of the squad. So maybe a group of eight guards would have 8 health and each point lost would kill one. When they act, they only make one attack but it represents a barrage of attacks from the group and the extra numbers add a bonus to their checks, and as their numbers deplete the bonus is also whittled away. In terms of inflicting damage to them, use the damage chart for vehicles/robots and each hit removes one enemy (tougher goons might need a double or even triple hit to remove one). The player can narrate how he drops multiple foes, allowing them to have their 'action hero' moment, possibly at the cost of a little extra ammo. So the group of mooks ends up being a threat, requires less work by the GM, and allows the PCs to feel a bit epic without making wholesale changes. That's just the rough idea, but does it sound doable?

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Each weapon lists the damage it infl icts as a number of d6. Add the Effect of the attack roll to this damage.

Are speaking of using something over and above the standard on p.65 of the Core book?
I would keep it simple, like on a rolls of 6's on the task roll allows to roll another die and add to the roll. If if a 6 is rolled again, keep rolling. Allow only the PCs and Major NPCs to be able to do this. The mooks get squat. This allows players to be more cinematic without change every other rule in the book. Can also be applied to non-combat rolls to distinguish your Skill 4 (best in the world) Scientist/WhatHaveYou from other people running around with the same skill level.

Without the rules modification standard humans can achieve +12 Effect or more, though not often:
Stat 15 (+3DM) (Maximum Human)
Skill 4 (+4DM) (Best in the World)
Equipment (+1DM) (or better depending on type)
Extra Time (+1DM or more) (if applicable)
Roll of 12
12 (roll) - 8 (Standard Task Diffculty) +8 (DMs) = Effect 12 Damage from a dagger becomes 1d6+2 + 12.

Using the Animal creation rules is a falacy. Humans are mediocre at best compared to similar-sized creatures on Earth. Our senses are dull, our weapons are pitiful and we are not as fast as equivalently massed creatures.

Depends on which creatures your talking about, what if they are similar sized creatures from a World with Martian Gravity?

 

[Reynard]

"Using the Animal creation rules is a fallacy. Humans are mediocre at best compared to similar-sized creatures on Earth. Our senses are dull, our weapons are pitiful and we are not as fast as equivalently massed creatures."

And it's a shame the rules don't take into account what made even proto man and early man survivors in a world of deadly predators, a brain. Take the duller senses and weaker bodies and coordinate it all with a sharp mind able to make use of hindsight, foresight and awareness to more than compensate to become a prime survivor able to evolve and adapt by thought. We see that come up in the cinematics of the story of man against the world all the time.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I've been thinking about this some more and came up with this idea:

Characters and Major NPCs (Military Special Forces Etc.): HP = STR+DEX+END

Trained Military/Police/Henchmen: HP = (STR+DEX+END)/2

Civilians and Cannon Fodder/Redshirts: HP = 0

After HP reaches 0, then damage goes to stats per normal traveller rules.

 

[CosmicGamer]

As long as were still throwing around ideas

The players always have initiative.
The players could get extra actions per round.

Personally, I don't like the idea of higher hit points as movie star characters are often never hit. Bullets just whiz by them or often the worse that happens is they receive a single non crit bullet or knife injury. Taking multiple gunshots or knife wounds with little effect is more in the realm of superhuman cinema.

Melee (unarmed) is another thing. They seam to take endless blows with little effect. To simulate this, perhaps a natural armor value?

Which also brings up the quick healing power of cinema. Getting shot, holding up for a day and seemingly being back to full capability (just some wincing so you know they got shot). Of course with the future medical tech of Traveller this may be possible.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

As long as were still throwing around ideas

The players always have initiative.
The players could get extra actions per round.

Personally, I don't like the idea of higher hit points as movie star characters are often never hit. Bullets just whiz by them or often the worse that happens is they receive a single non crit bullet or knife injury. Taking multiple gunshots or knife wounds with little effect is more in the realm of superhuman cinema.

Melee (unarmed) is another thing. They seam to take endless blows with little effect. To simulate this, perhaps a natural armor value?

Which also brings up the quick healing power of cinema. Getting shot, holding up for a day and seemingly being back to full capability (just some wincing so you know they got shot). Of course with the future medical tech of Traveller this may be possible.

Well the alternative is to play a grunt who gets shot in the first combat.

 

[Infojunky]

I apologize if this has been talked about before, but I am just getting back in to Traveller after an extended absence. I am working on a conversion of a homebrew setting for an upcoming campaign, and my players and I generally prefer a more cinematic vibe in our games. I have a few simple ideas to modify the system to give it that feel, but I was curious what other people have tried and how it worked for them.
My basic plan is to boost the amount of damage player characters can take (2x End), luck points to give a boost on critical rolls (spend one to roll 3d6 and take the highest two dice), and henchmen level foes to act as cannon fodder (drop after taking 1\2 End damage, all their checks only succeed on 10+). I toyed with a modification using the same damage system for PCs that vehicles and robots use, but that felt off. Any suggestions are very welcome.

Have you read the expanded Character Options presented in Traveller:2300?

It contains many more options than the Core Rulebook, Judge Dredd/Strontium Dog is also another good sources.

 

[Condottiere]

I always thought the Ars Magica concept of one main protagonist, with a bunch of henchmen to roleplay as when mood and situation calls for, had a certain charm.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Have psionic healers that can function as D&D clerics.

 

[Infojunky]

I always thought the Ars Magica concept of one main protagonist, with a bunch of henchmen to roleplay as when mood and situation calls for, had a certain charm.

I too have thought that the Troop Style of play would be golden for Traveller.

 

[CosmicGamer]

Well the alternative is to play a grunt who gets shot in the first combat.

That is one of many alternatives.

The question is does the OP want changes that make it as much like action cinema as possible?

Such as my comment

Melee (unarmed) is another thing. They seam to take endless blows with little effect. To simulate this, perhaps a natural armor value?

As for my earlier statement

Personally, I don't like the idea of higher hit points as movie star characters are often never hit. Bullets just whiz by them or often the worse that happens is they receive a single non crit bullet or knife injury. Taking multiple gunshots or knife wounds with little effect is more in the realm of superhuman cinema.

For the more cinematic "bullets seam to miss the main character" or in Traveller, player characters and perhaps certain special others, one might want some option other than hit points. For example:

A "hero" has a natural instinct and sense of danger that allows them to duck, bob and weave efficiently and without even thinking about it.

You could make them difficult -2DM to hit with weapons instead of average. It is the GMs job to define tasks so this technically could be considered within their prerogative and not even a house rule? *1
and/or
Modify dodging to give the players a larger advantage without a larger penalty.
and/or
Use the player characters combat skill or tactics skill as a -DM to attackers.

How to tweak things depends on what one wants to happen.
Bullets whiz by the PCs? - Several options so that tasks to shoot them are less likely to succeed.
Bullets bounce off them or do little damage? - They have a natural armor and/or opponents do not add effect to their damage.
They can take a lot of damage? - Some modification, like hit points, to the current system of STR DEX END taking the damage.

 

[dirklancer]

If you go the route of hit points above and beyond the standard damage mechanic, then you probably need to justify them in the same way they always have been viewed: representing abstract luck, chance, and trivial wounds that eventually give way to the serious ones. As a long time D&D player, the concept of hit points don't really bother me as its just a narrative mechanic to justify how heroes can survive longer than the average.
My original thought of just adding an extra pool of Endurance can be viewed the same way, and not as the idea that heroes are bullet sponges. The extra endurance could easily represent something abstract like battle fatigue, willpower, etc. And personally I would rather go that route than add another pool of points to monitor, and it still serves the same function.
But I also am interested in ideas on how to help survival via making heroes harder to hit. As I mentioned in my OP, my first idea was to make non-vital enemies and NPCs have a base difficulty of 10+ and PCs and important NPCs use the standard. I also toyed with the idea of allowing bonuses from higher Dex or Int to be added to dodges (Int because I like the idea of smart characters being able to outmaneuver foes via strategy and wits).
I guess as someone who has been away from Traveller for about 32 years, for those more familiar with how the base game plays, is it lethal as is? The book seems to imply combat is very dangerous, and just looking at the damage vs armor vs typical lasting power of a character it does seem like one or two good hits can drop someone.
And I am not looking for action heroes, but my players are really good at developing deep characters and like being able to feel like the main characters in a movie or novel. So while I am not above killing them if that's the way the dice fall, I also want to make them feel like they are the paper targets for the baddies.

 

[Infojunky]

Consider this; weapons choices, point out the selection of non-lethal weapons available, as a GM consider what is an acceptable amount of violence in the society that your baddies are from. Also play with the Law levels that your worlds have, they will shape generally what weapons will be commonly available. Also consider what armor is available to the players, in general in my games Cloth armor (frequently in tailored fashionable styles (I allow increased protection and concealability with extensive expensive tailoring)).

Setting the tone of what is considered acceptable behavior is a big part of Traveller Combat. Very few planets are going to be the wild west, and even if they are going for your shooting iron at the 1st sign of conflict is seen as bad form.

In hand to hand combat I have always allowed PC to use their melee combat skills and appropriate characteristic as a neg DM on NPCs rolls. Parries and Blocks are resolved by the standard Skill vs Skill resolution with combatant with the highest effect result "winning".

Lastly always adjudicate in the players favor, except where going against them will get a bigger laugh.

 

[Condottiere]

Then there's the WoD approach, let the player's spin a great story how their actions resolve the situation favourably.

Either leave a Chekhov's Gun lying about, or let them conjure one.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Then there's the WoD approach, let the player's spin a great story how their actions resolve the situation favourably.

Either leave a Chekhov's Gun lying about, or let them conjure one.

Wouldn't Chekhov want his gun back?

 

[Condottiere]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVOIig2xLq8